A piece of text is currently viral on WhatsApp which contains 9 quotes purportedly by certain Western authors/philosophers etc. In each one of these quotes, they are stating how great Hindutva or Hinduism is and some even predicting that it will be the religion that the entire world will follow. The quotes also made it to mailing lists and one such copy dated 29th March 2017 is available here => bit.ly/2nyMS6t. A verbatim copy of the 9 quotes is as follows:

Have you ever read these Western philosophers1. Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)

“Hindus and Hindutva will one day rule the world, because this is a combination of knowledge and wisdom”.

2. Herbert Wells (1846 – 1946):

“Until the effectiveness of Hindutva is restored, how many generations will suffer atrocities and life will be cut off, then one day the entire world will be attracted to it, on that day there will be Dilshad and on that day the world will be inhabited.

3. Albert Einstein (1879-1955):

“I understand that through his intelligence and awareness he did that which the Jews could not do. In Hinduism it is the power that can lead to peace.”

4. Huston Smith (1919):

“The faith which is upon us and this is better than us in the world, then it is Hindutva. If we open our hearts and minds for it, then it will be good for us”.

“Hindutva will become the ruler religion in Europe, but the famous city of Europe will become the Hindu capital”.

6. Bertrand Russell (1872 – 1970):

“I read Hinduism and realized that it is for the religion of all the world and all mankind.” Hindutva will spread throughout Europe and in Europe, big thinkers of Hinduism will emerge. One day it will come that Hindus will be the real stimulus of the world. “.

7. Gosta Lobon (1841 – 1931):

“Hindus speak of peace and reconciliation. I invite Christians to appreciate the faith of reform.”

8. Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950):

“The entire world will accept Hindu religion one day and if it can not even accept the real name it will accept it by name only.” West will accept Hindutva one day and Hindu will be the religion of those who have studied in the world “.

9. Johann Geith (1749 – 1832):

“We all have to accept Hinduism now or later and this is the real religion. If I say no to Hindu, I will not feel bad, I accept this right thing.”

Even before we start exploring whether these quotes are genuine or not, here’s a funny coincidence. The above 9 eminent people also happened to say the same wonderful things about Islam and Islamic Sharia. A Facebook Page called Iqra posted the following Hindi Text in a Facebook Post datedNov 18, 2015, an english translation of which is available in this forum post dated Dec 19, 2015 => bit.ly/2nOOAmg:

If we are to believe the above two passages, that would mean that Leo Tolstoy believes that both Hindutva and Islamic Sharia will one day rule the world. Quite an impossibility. In fact, Leo Tolstoy has authored a book called “What I believe” in 1884 in which he expresses his firm beliefs in Christianity. Thus, he couldn’t have been a proponent of either Hindutva or Islamic Sharia. Moreover, Leo Tolstoy died in 1910 and the word “Hindutva” was popularised by RSS ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923 in a pamphlet titled “Essentials of Hindutva” which Savarkar had written while in imprisonment, a full 13 years after Leo Tolstoy died.